Johnson freshman Guan claims 5A girls state tennis title

By Lorne Chan :
April 30, 2013
: Updated: May 1, 2013 2:37am

Johnson's Chuyang Guan comes to the net to return a shot during her 6-0, 6-4 victory over Houston Cypress-Ranch's Courtney Anderson in the Class 5A state final Tuesday in Austin.

Photo By Bob Owen/San Antonio Express-News

Chuyang Guan of Johnson High School comes to the net for a point against Courtney Anderson of Houston Cypress Ranch during the 5A State Tennis Tournament at Penick-Allison Tennis Center in Austin on Tuesday April 30, 2013. Guan won the state championship.

Photo By Bob Owen/San Antonio Express-News

Chuyang Guan of Johnson High School hits a forehand in route to beating Courtney Anderson of Houston Cypress Ranch for the Girls single 5A State Tennis Championship at Penick-Allison Tennis Center in Austin on Tuesday April 30, 2013. Guan won the state championship.

Photo By Bob Owen/San Antonio Express-News

Chuyang Guan of Johnson High School muscles a forehand in route to beating Courtney Anderson of Houston Cypress Ranch for the Girls single 5A State Tennis Championship at Penick-Allison Tennis Center in Austin on Tuesday April 30, 2013. Guan won the state championship.

Photo By Bob Owen/San Antonio Express-News

Chuyang Guan of Johnson High School is all smiles after beating Courtney Anderson of Houston Cypress Ranch for the Girls single 5A State Tennis Championship at Penick-Allison Tennis Center in Austin on Tuesday April 30, 2013.

Photo By Bob Owen/San Antonio Express-News

Chuyang Guan of Johnson High School prepares to his a backhand for a point against Courtney Anderson of Houston Cypress Ranch during the 5A State Tennis Tournament at Penick-Allison Tennis Center in Austin on Tuesday April 30, 2013. Guan won the girls singles state championship.

Photo By Bob Owen/San Antonio Express-News

Jonah Candelario of Alamo Hieghts prepares hit a back hand to Jordan Hart of McKinney North during the 4A Boys singles final State Tennis Tournament at Penick-Allison Tennis Center in Austin on Tuesday April 30, 2013. Candelario came in second in state.

Photo By Bob Owen/San Antonio Express-News

Jonah Candelario of Alamo Hieghts prepares hit a back hand to Jordan Hart of McKinney North during the 4A Boys singles final State Tennis Tournament at Penick-Allison Tennis Center in Austin on Tuesday April 30, 2013. Candelario came in second in state.

Photo By Bob Owen/San Antonio Express-News

Lucas Fumagalli, right, hugs his sister TJ Fumagalli of New Braunfels High School after loosing in the 5A Mixed Doubles final to Clayton Niess and Casey Sutton of Austin Westlake High School during the State Tennis Tournament at Penick-Allison Tennis Center in Austin on Tuesday April 30, 2013.

Photo By Bob Owen/San Antonio Express-News

John King, right, of Alamo Heights High School comes in for a forehand as his Boys Doubles team mate Henry Adams watches during the 4A State Final in the Tennis Tournament at Penick-Allison Tennis Center in Austin on Tuesday April 30, 2013. Alamo Heights came in second in state.

AUSTIN — When Johnson High School first opened in 2008, tennis coach Sean Reno scouted the courts at its feeder middle schools to see what talent he would get.

He first saw Chuyang Guan at Tejeda Middle, hitting a string of powerful shots as her father fed her tennis balls. Reno figured she might have a chance to play right away.

“The only problem was that she was in fourth grade at the time,” Reno said.

Guan has arrived. And on Tuesday, she became a state champion as a freshman.

She won the Class 5A girls singles state title, defeating Houston Cypress-Ranch's Courtney Anderson 6-0, 6-4 in the final.

After Guan cruised through the first set and led 2-0 in the second at Penick-Allison Tennis Center, Anderson settled down and clawed her way back. Guan was serving for the match leading 5-4, but fell behind 15-40 in the game. She responded by hitting two straight winners on her way to taking the title.

“It's really exciting to do this as a freshman,” said Guan, 15, who is currently the No. 5-ranked girls 18s player in Texas. “The goal's going to be to win state four times, but I have a long way to go.”

New Braunfels' Lilly Kimbell was the sixth player to win four girls singles state titles, accomplishing the feat from 2007-10. No player has won four titles all at the Class 5A level.

In the Class 4A boys doubles final, Dallas Highland Park's Luke Stainback and Hunter Holman defeated Adams and King 6-1, 5-7, 6-3. The match was tied 3-3 in the final set, but Stainback and Holman were able to pull away.

McKinney North's Jordan Hart beat Candelario 1-6, 6-1, 6-4 to win the 4A boys singles title. After Candelario took the first set, Hart won nine of the next 10 games to go ahead 3-0 in the third. Candelario evened the match at 3-3 but couldn't sustain the momentum.

The trip to the state final was still a triumph for Candelario, a junior, who was the third seed in the Region IV-4A tournament.

“When I got down in the third set, I forgot about the score and just kept battling for each point,” Candelario said. “It was a good match, and I hope I'm back at state next year.”

Westlake's tandem was able to come back after the Fumagallis won the first set and led 4-2 in the second.

“This wasn't the outcome we wanted, but I'll look back and feel good about this experience,” Lucas said. “I got to play doubles with my sister for the first time, and the only match we lost was in the state final.”